


The Great Opportunity

by ElithN



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alya Césaire Bashing, Daminette, Lila Rossi Bashing, MariBat, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElithN/pseuds/ElithN
Summary: Marinette was aware that her life was a disaster. She is surrounded by bad intentions and is constantly lonely.Damian was aware that his life was a secret evil, raised by murderers, surrounded by mysteries and voluntarily lonely.They live an ocean away, have no common friends and they're definitely not like-minded people.So how do two different people come to meet and be more than just strangers?You will just have to read and find out.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 114
Kudos: 508





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first story in AO3.  
> The English language is NOT my mother tongue, so you will probably find some mistakes, I apologize a lot for that.
> 
> My knowledge about Batman is limited to some comics, many fanfictions and several web pages queries, so if you consider something is wrong, please write me to correct it or see what adaptation can be done.
> 
> @ozmav has certainly been a good inspiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has had the sweet support (and a lot of corrections) of @Addylecrab, who is now the beta reader <3

**February 20, 2020.**

  
  
She was lying in her bed when she realized the reality.  
  
Marinette Dupain-Cheng's life wasn't the easiest lately.  
  
Well, that was a cruel euphemism, for about a year and a half, her life had been complete hell and it wouldn't surprise her if it continued like that for a long time.  
  
Being in control of both her lives was complicated, because yes, the girl was actually in possession of a pair of earrings that gave her some special abilities, specifically the power of creation and good luck, as crazy as that sounds, with these powers a super persona was needed, soon becoming know as Ladybug to all of Paris  
  
Returning to the dilemma, she assumed that being a superhero with magical powers at 15 and keeping her secret identity would be for anyone with an active student life and some hope of a social life, not that it's working out very well.

To add to that burden, her teammate refused to fight beside her for something as simple as her not accepting his feelings. The cherry on top was that she was now in charge of the miraculous box, becoming the guardian of a millennium old secret.  
  
Pretty strong stuff for a teenager who was still fighting over such mundane things as acne.  
  
Her problems did not stop in her hero life however. They spilled into her civilian life, which had become a tragic story of abuse by those she once considered her friends.  
  
Let's recap.  
  
At the beginning of her previous school year she was still class president, a friend to almost all her classmates and in love (almost to the verge of being a stalker, she admits with some shame) with a famous model who, by fate, studied with her. Everything was going relatively well.  
  


Until a new Italian student arrived, Lila Rossi, also known as a great liar who turned everyone against her. Although, well, that would be giving her too much credit, her classmates apparently shared one brain cell altogether and decided not to use it in general when it came to logic.  
  


Who would believe that a random girl that traveled to France for what seemed to be her FIRST time was somehow the best friend of the Parisian heroine. She even claimed the title in an interview, effectively putting a giant target on her back.

How could people believe she had been the friend/inspiration of certain artists who had started their careers long before she herself was born?  
  
Why would someone believe that a 14-year-old had arthritis and sprains in different joints every day. Or that her tinnitus seemingly switched ears in minutes. She claimed to have more diseases than a 70-year-old.  
  
The stupidity of her class was almost laughable.  
  
This girl was capable of saying anything silly next to someone's famous name and automatically had a group of followers fawning over her “audacity".  
  
And, apparently, asking her to stop lying automatically made her an enemy.  
  
Now she was lying about Marinette. And the flock believed everything, including some of her teachers and even the school principal. Her parents were genuinely surprised by the alarming number of suspensions she received and the times they had to go to meetings with Mr. Damocles because of her bad behavior. Lately they also began to doubt her word because of the number of people involved.  
  
She was genuinely tired of everything. Going to school was similar to walking to the gallows waiting for her sentence. She didn't want to hear anymore insults and feel scorned by their gazes, she didn't want to keep finding her things damaged and scattered on the classroom floor.  
  
The only quiet time of day she had been when in her room, finishing all those commissions on her design website. Thanks to it, her savings account at the bank was growing rapidly, something that nobody else knew of, including her parents. Since the account was opened with the help of her grandmother Gina. That money was being her master card in case she found herself without any other options, at the end, becoming emancipated was more and more tempting.  
  
Yes, the stress was consuming her, faster than she would accept.  
  
She had been trying for months to give up her position as class president, and Mlle. Bustier always refused because she felt that Marinette the best suited personfor the class presidency and because Marinette herself had to do the things necessary to reconcile herself with the rest of the students.  
  
The little heroine was no fool however, she knew that her teacher's insistence lay on the fact that she did much more work than was expected, saving Bustier from putting in too much effort. She had even commissioned her to do all the planning for the next school trip, along with the fundraising and scheduling, work that clearly belonged to the teacher, not a student! No matter how hard she tried, her complaints never made it the student council or the school board for lack of support.

Yeah, she was surrounded by bullies and enablers.  
  
It was fortunate that about three months ago she got a very convenient email about a trip sponsored by Wayne Industries, so she quickly rushed to send a report with all the requirements without informing anyone at the school. All to avoid having her credit for the effort stolen again.  
  
Don't even get her started on the great disappointment that turned out to be Adrien Agreste, the one she once thought would be her greatest love.  
  
Just when she thought her spirits couldn't get any worse, the Akuma alert began to sound.  
  
  


* * *

Ladybug was surprised to arrive at the site of the akuma (only about three blocks from her parents' bakery) and see Chat Noir there. It had been a long time since he had arrived and fought in a battle, and she didn't really know what to think when she saw him there. He looked haggard and quite pale, nothing like the hero he met almost three years ago during Stone Heart's first appearance.  
  
She missed the pleasant camaraderie they once had and their innocent games, yet for a year now she had not known the man she once considered her best friend. He no longer came to the battles, his innocent flirtations now made her uncomfortable,as they far exceeded the limits they had set at the beginning, his smiles were forced... everything seemed to be off and going on by inertia.  
  
She knew that she, as a guardian, had to find a solution to the user of destruction, or in that case, remove the miraculous for not considering him suitable, as she had done with Rena Rouge and Carapace. But she was scared to admit that she was alone in the battle against Hawkmoth.

  
And she didn't want to be alone in her hero's life, too.  
  
“My lady, we've gone a long time without seeing each other, don't you think that at the end, a date at the Eiffel Tower would be great?” he asked, almost out of habit, with a slight smile that now seems almost unknown.  
  
She felt horrible to hear his voice so monotonous, devoid of that spark that characterized him and again she blamed herself for not freeing him from the burden that the ring seemed to mean for him. Just when she felt that her voice would have the usual strength and tried to say some words of comfort to him, they saw the akuma guilty of the commotion.

He stood just a few feet from the road, greenish skin with his fingertips in a darker shade, wearing a wide mauve-blue tunic covered with multicolored stars with a sort of pocket in the chest area, and orange hair. On a large poster above his head, it stated Opportunité.  
  
Yes, Hawkmoth really needed a great deal of creativity to improve the names and appearances of his victims.  
  
There were a considerable number of people running through the streets, screaming in fear of being hit by one of the lightning bolts shooting from their fingers.  
  
“Now everyone will have a real chance to change their destiny, they will do exactly what is necessary to change their lives for the better. Everyone will be able to have what they have waited so long for,” he shouted and continued to shoot with his left hand.  
  
That explained a bit why everyone hit by Opportunité's rays started running in specific directions or pulled out their phones trying to communicate with someone. It wasn't one of the worst creations made by the Butterfly Kwami holder, but he was a fast shooter, so they quickly found themselves in the middle of a crowd crazed to change their lives, something that really gave them little room to move around without tripping over some civilians.  
  
“Chat, what else do we know about this Akuma?”  
  
“Not much, when I arrived he was talking about how he was rejected from his dream job because of some nonsense he did a few years ago. And the only thing that looks interesting is something that sticks out of his pocket,” he said, very happy about Ladybug's sudden attention.  
  
"Well, as long as we don't gain his attention, we have a head start in attacking him. He gets distracted from his surroundings when he shoots. You take the right and I'll take the left," she said.  
  
It seemed to be quite simple, some people realized the effect of the Akumatised person and started clearing the area to avoid hindering the heroes' work, everything was going relatively well.  
  
It was too easy.  
  
They had chased him for a few minutes, while the akuma threw lightning bolts here and there, shouting that they would be grateful for his help. She was now only a few feet away from her home, and because she had the ability to float, she was relatively close to the balcony on the terrace where she usually placed her pots. She wasn't overly concerned with the damage that might occur, as the miracle cure would restore everything to their former glories.

Unfortunately, she did not count on the fact that her partner was going through much desperate circumstances than it seemed at first.  
  
“Kitten” the akuma began calling him as soon as he was positioned on a nearby rooftop “don't you think you deserve a chance to show how much you're worth?  
  
“What do you mean?” replied Chat Noir, lifting his chin a little, intrigued by the offer.  
  
“Wouldn't you like another chance? Maybe one good enough for Ladybug to accept your feelings?” He smiled softly Opportunité, his eyes twinkled and then his voice grew thicker. “A chance to change everything as you know it. My power is greater than you think, Hawkmoth was generous. I have the ability to alter more, much more, than you think. You don't know how much or when you've been wrong, but my power does and it can fix it”.

  
The boy in the cat suit approached slowly, while leaping down from his old shelter and looked at him thoughtfully. He took a quick look at his teammate, muttering something that sounded very similar to «Mom» and nodded.

  
At that moment Ladybug noticed that her teammate's eyes no longer had just his typical toxic green, but also a purple glow. That,while adding to his sickly look, which he had been carrying naturally for a while, made him look more like one of Hawkmoth's machinations than the hero he was supposed to represent.  
  
“CHAT NOIR! PLEASE, WAKE UP! LOOK AT ME! PLEASE CHAT!!,” she begged hysterically and jumped right in between the now mildly hypnotized cat and the akuma, raising both arms to create more distance.  
  
Yes, our Ladybug wasn't being very heroic at the moment.  
  
“Come on, little cat,” he continued, completely ignoring the heroine in red, “you know you have a new chance with my power, I just have to do this,” he thundered. His fingers attracted many flashes of light which then concentrated in his right hand, "I even invoked all other opportunities I gave out to give you the bigger chance. When your chance is done, you just have to give me your ring".

  
And to prove his point, Opportunité began to strip all the former victims of their power, creating a large glowing sphere in his hands, in the middle of which shone a greenish landscape every time Chat Noir stared, though it began to sport a purple hue as if the observer was its creator.  
  
The Akuma looked at his creation with surprising affection, as he contemplated the greatest secret in that small orb.

“I confess, I'm only strong enough to do this twice, and for that I must be focused. One will be _for you_ , as I promised. The other _big opportunity_ will be for me, to fix my life. Now, if you want to get this over with quickly, just help me out a little bit to get the Ladybug Miraculous”.  
  
The young Cat Miraculous holder was enraptured by the projected image, amazed at the possibility. Unknowingly, not far away, there was a Hawkmoth euphoric about the course the events were taking.  
  
Ladybug was already sincerely frightened and with the desire to finish quickly this parody in which the battle became, she shouted “Lucky Charm” and in her hands fell for the first time a weapon useful enough that did not need a plan of great maneuvers, It was a taser, perfect for stopping a compulsive shooter and a cat that did not know the meaning of no.  
  
Chat also seemed to notice the usefulness of such a weapon and the danger it posed to his chance, because he quickly invoked a cataclysm. All in order to protect his one chance at bringing forth his twisted dreams.  
  
Just at that moment Opportunité also finished gathering all the power he had invoked before, because the small sphere expanded until it created a ring, big enough to cross Chat Noir.  
  
It goes without saying that everything went very wrong from that moment.  
  
Ladybug turned around and stalked towards the akuma, spinning her yo-yo with one hand and activating the small taser in her other hand. Luckily, Opportunité was too concentrated looking at his new power to notice the sudden change of targets but Chat rushed towards with his raised hand to hit his partner's weapon.  
  
What happened next happened so fast it could have been a blur. Ladybug wrapped up the akumatized victim with her yo-yo right when Opportunité released a big ray with his right hand. It hit the taser, pushing the red suited heroine through the shining ring. Right before finishing the battle the ring snapped shut with Ladybug crossing into the void through the other side.  
  
That failed attack left a very confused but now normal Chat Noir in the middle of the streets of Paris, Opportunité frozen from the fact that his power had been wasted, and a furious Hawkmoth rampaging in his lair from the loss of what he believed to be a victory.  
  
They knew nothing of Ladybug's current circumstances, including her location.

* * *

**February 20, 2019.**  
  
Damian Wayne's Day wasn't turning out as expected.  
  
_Perhaps father would finally recognize all he had learned and let him go it alone,_ he thought.  
  
Today he had the impression that something big would happen, and being him, he had set high expectations for himself. In the end, he was destined for something big.  
  
At least that was instilled in him from birth, to be the heir to Ra's Al Ghul, and for him, that was good. That's why he trained harder than anyone else, until he was the lethal weapon his mother had hoped for, one that Grandfather would never be disappointed in.  
  
Until he wasn't. The league was attacked, his grandfather was eliminated, and he was left by his mother in a completely unknown place with his father.  
  
So he thought he would now inherit something from him, Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman. And great things would be expected of him again.  
  
But they weren't the big things he expected.  
  
When Damien had arrived and found out that there was always a Robin sidekick for Batman, he expected to automatically be given the mantle as Batman's Robin. He also expected to be given the treatment he believed he was entitled to as the heir to a great legacy.  
  
He was sorely disappointed to find out that half of that ideal wasn't true.  
  
He also didn't count on his father adopting orphans as a hobby, and he wasn't even aware of Damian's existence.  
  
So there he was at age 10, fighting for a new identity and sharing space with three other guys who claimed to be his brothers, in a mansion where, somehow, everyone wanted his father's attention, something they would definitely all deny without hesitation.  
  


He wanted to be the sole heir again.

  
He tried to establish that he was the heir by the only way he knew how, by fighting. He tried to attack Drake more times than his family thought, insulted Todd in a thousand different ways, and escaped Grayson's "love attacks" far more than he bargained for.  
  
Finally, after some effort, he understood the way his new family worked and got used to it a little. To his understanding, he was also still the heir, so he was partly fine.

A few years later, he was sent to learn about "teamwork" with the Teen Titans, grudgingly admitting to himself that they were quite acceptable as heroes. He somehow also gained a following, though Jon Kent insisted they were friends.  
  
He knew that hitting was not the number one option to solve his problems, at least depending on who he was dealing with. That condition was not sympathetic to father, but eventually he accepted that's the way Damian works, as does Red Hood, although the latter with a much lighter filter.  
  
And there he was, a few hours ago, back at the mansion, lying on the living room couch next to Alfred the cat. Nothing interesting had happened at the school, nothing interesting had happened on the way back either, and he had been in the same position for several minutes already and still nothing had happened to make up for his great feeling. His last hope for the day lay in the patrol that would happen in a few hours, although now most of his family were in the cave watching some information about Blüdhaven that Grayson had brought in that didn't interest him.  
  
He was about to admit that he had made a mistake, something very rare, when it happened.  
  
A big glowing hoop appeared for no reason right on the couch where he was sitting and a person, covered in a suit very similar to spandex, red with black dots, fell right on top of him, causing him to let out a big scream, both from the blow and the surprise. And just as it appeared, the hoop quickly shrank until it was gone.  
  
Leaving him confused, apparently enough not to hear the footsteps of his family running in his direction alerted by the noise, looking at the one he now identified as a girl looking at him with a growing fright in her blue eyes.  
  
“Qui êtes-vous? Où suis-je?” muttered the stranger.  
  
She looked frightened, almost panicking. The room seemed to frighten her, although Alfred, the butler in this case, had decorated it exquisitely by his standards, which were too high for anyone.  
  
He was dismayed enough, dismayed enough not to react quickly for the first time in his life to the unknown.  
  
“WHAT THE HELL, BABY BAT?” cried Dick Grayson as he entered the room and saw such a scene.  
  
And to see Batman's son, his face free of all expression, underneath a girl, in a completely tight suit, it should be added, was not something that the members of the Bat-Fam would be used to seeing. Because yes, everyone was seeing them after quickly leaving their small meeting and running into the room, including Bruce Wayne himself, more surprised than anything else to see his youngest son in these circumstances.  
  
“Well, I wouldn't keep calling him a baby. At the end none of us had dared to go that far, look at the fact that putting a girl in the mansion and being found in the process is too much even for you, Demon Spawn,” Todd said with a crooked smile.  
  
There, just after he understood what his father's second protégé had said, he reacted, not in the best way expected by someone trained by the legendary assassin's league, because what he did was to stand up at full power, pushing the girl in his path, who hit her head on the small table when she fell.  
  
And she didn't move.  
  
“And he already killed her, I hope you're not expecting grandchildren from Damian, Bruce,” Drake concluded with a sigh.  
  
Well, that was a hunch, but not in the way that was intended.


	2. A great confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette arrives in Gotham even without her knowledge, causing immediate disaster for Damian and many misunderstandings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you so much for the comments and kudos. It got more reception than I expected.  
> This will be a somewhat slower, but smoother chapter than the last one. First I want to show you a little bit about Damian's relationship with his family (not very perfect).  
> I didn't expect the chapter to be like this, but as soon as I started writing it led me down this path.
> 
> (and yes, BatFam is a disaster when it is about relationships).
> 
> WARNING: Mention is made of topics such as prostitution and fetishes.

“ _And he already killed her, I hope you're not expecting grandchildren from Damian, Bruce,” Drake concluded with a sigh.  
  
Well, that was a hunch, but not in the way that was intended._

  


* * *

“She is alive, though somewhat battered, _ **”**_ announced the third of the brothers as he checked Ladybug's pulse, causing sighs of relief from the other men in the room. _ **  
  
**_The girl was now lying on the sofa where Damian had been resting until recently, courtesy of Tim, who charged her before any of the others reacted to the presence of the masked intruder.

 _ **  
**_ He could see her in more detail now that the surprise was over. She had dark hair tied back in a high ponytail, and the suit she was wearing covered almost her entire body, from her neck to her feet, made of some unknown material.

_**  
**_ It was a simple, practical design, consisting of small red boots with black ribbons, black stockings covering the legs, a sort of red dress with two slight openings at the front covered with black dots, some crossed ribbons tied to the chest, matching gloves, and a domino mask with the same design as the dress.

 _ **  
**_ In short, a costume, not a fighting suit, he concluded, noting that it would look nothing like the suits he was accustomed to seeing on his family members. He was taken out of his thoughts by his father's voice.

 _ **  
“**_ Damian... could you explain this? What is a costumed stranger doing inside the house? _ **”**_ Bruce questioned. 

_**  
** Beep! Beep!_

_**  
**_ That surprised everyone, none of them recognized the sound. And the situation got worse when they discovered, as they approached, that it was coming from the fainted girl.

 _ **  
“**_ Great, you picked a girl bomb. _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ I didn't pick anything, and I don't know who she is, _ **”**_ he defended himself.

 _ **  
**_ They didn't like that answer because of the new expressions on their faces. Todd shook his head gently.

 _ **  
“**_ I know you have emotional constipation, but I didn't believe you were _one of those_ , _ **”**_ Tim pointed out without taking his eyes off his younger brother. He seemed to be judging him.

 _ **  
**_ Now _everyone_ , including the cat now resting on the table, looked very interested in his next response

 _ **  
“**_ First let's find out what and why Damian's victim is ringing and don't you dare tell a joke about girl bombs right now, Jason! _ **”**_ Dick mentions when he sees his brother's intentions.

 _ **  
“**_ I don't know what Drake is implying, but I have no idea who she is, I was on the couch with Alfred when she came out of nowhere _ **”**_

  


_**“**_ Alfred? _ **”**_ questioned one of them when they didn't see the butler.

 _ **  
“**_ The cat. _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ Do you really expect us to believe that the girl came out of nowhere and fell over you? _ **”**_ Disbelief filtered through the voice. And it came from a person who worked with aliens and magic users, his meter of strange situations was quite high.

 _ **  
“**_ Eh... yes? For a... ring that glowed _ **”**_ he hesitated to answer, realizing how bad it sounded. _ **  
  
“**_Baby Bat, I know you don't have much social interaction, but that's an awful excuse. Even Jaybird made up better things in his teenage years. _Jason! **”**_ Dick said with a pitiful expression.

 _ **  
**_ Knowing that Jason, as a young man, tried (failing miserably) to steal from Batman, he didn't give a hint of a good level of intelligence in those years.

 _ **  
**_ His father was just sitting back and looking at him as if it were the first time, completely ignoring his adopted children and the girl in a costume.

  


“Father?”

 _ **  
“**_ I didn't think you were a fetishist either, although maybe that's Bruce's fault for making you look at so many suits at this phase. _ **”**_

_**  
** Beep! Beep!_

_**  
“**_ Well, maybe it's just something inevitable. You hooked up with Barbara, a girl in a suit, _ **”**_ raises a finger _**“**_ then you went after Kory, also in a suit, _ **”**_ another finger, in this case the middle finger, _**“**_ and we better not mention your multiple adventures with girls in suits, _ **”**_ but to prove his point, he raises the remaining three fingers of his right hand, and considering it better, he raises two more fingers of his left hand _**“**_ even Replacement was with Stephanie, another girl in a suit."

  


“Where does that leave you?”

  
“Remember that I died at the height of my hormones. Besides, it seems to be a thing that starts with the Robins and the Batgirls. And Cassandra's not an option. I like my balls.”

  


“ _Oh_ , right.”

  


It wasn't a secret that Cassandra could easily castrate someone without any inconvenience.

  
He firmly believed that Grayson and Todd were capable of continuing to ramble on about it for a couple more minutes, but Drake decided to take control of the situation.

  
“That beep has sounded two times, in an exact 60-second cycle, two beeps per completed cycle and will sound again in a few seconds. Can we concentrate on solving it?”

  
“Maybe it's a time alarm. Tell me, Damian, how long have you-”

  
“Stop right there, Todd. Just because you need _those things_ doesn't mean I do,” he shouted, quite irritated by the insinuation.

  
“Whatever you say, but if you don't specify about some hardcore actions or some BDSM, she' s going to charge you for that hit.”

  
_Beep! Beep!_

  
“Little D, we won't judge you, really. It's kind of unexpected, but if we think about the fact that you're going to be 16 in a few months, hormones are in full swing, we've never seen you interested in a girl, or a boy, it's your choice at the end of the day, and you have the means to, uh, _afford some freedoms_... Is it possible to think you're curious?” Grayson tried to justify, somewhat blushing.

  
“Although an acceptable fetish, note that even the dark knight has Selina in her Catwoman's suit.” Todd pointed out, cocky.

  
“It's an interesting theory, that environment influences people's relationships. In this case, the suit is a necessity in the love objective, but we are several in the same environment looking for the same characteristic. To think that we're not looking for a love partner who understands our world, but a suit!” Drake seemed very excited to mention to himself statistics and evidence that he had ignored because he thought it was normal.

  
“Perfect, as long as we don't start adopting in series as B... On second thought, in case you have any doubts, look into that too, Timbers.”

  
“Inherited behavior, annotated.”

  
By this time Wayne Industries' young co-CEO was lost in his world, claiming he would do relevant research and compare the other love relationships of the members of various hero groups. He might have to violate some privacy laws in the process, but he felt it was for a good cause.

  
“But we don't approve of prostitution,” Bruce reacted, finally breaking his silence and putting a stop to his older children's diatribe.

  
_Beep! Beep!_

  
To say that Damian was surprised was an understatement. He was furious. His family thought he had hired some kind of whore to calm his 'growing teenage hormones'.

  
A whore in a costume to fulfill “family fetishes”, to complete. And don't forget the slight hesitation in his older brother's tone when he mentioned boys, because apparently not being a hormone-fueled freak automatically makes him gay.

  
He would ignore that last part to safeguard some appreciation for his brother and his mental health.  
  
He didn't even want to imagine how the girl would react if she heard them.

  
They were lucky his sword wasn't close by. Stupid rules about not carrying a gun in the house.

  
They were practically saying that he had broken the teachings they had been giving him since he arrived in Gotham. Insulting his seriousness and integrity.

  
Damian is many things, including being proud and a firm believer in what was meant by a dogma among the group of vigilantes who accompanied Batman, a set of rules that, although they were against his upbringing, he had respected in order to ingratiate himself with his father, to the point where he already considered them relatively normal among his own.

  
He is moody, elitist, arrogant, selfish, violent, stubborn, brazen, and probably an even longer list if asked by a family member (he is well aware that this is not a very flattering list!), but he would never, ever betray all the effort and time it had taken him to get where he is.

And, after not feeling it for a long time, the feeling of a weight on the stomach came back. Hurting. He was about to return to his old habit of shouting some well-deserved opinions about his family members when it happened.

_**  
** Beep! Beep!_

_**  
**_ That last whistle definitely caught the attention of everyone in the room, and with good cause, because as soon as the sound stopped, a pink light covered the girl, eliminating the reddish costume and leaving in its wake a girl dressed in a pink t-shirt, shorts and now two low pigtails. _ **  
  
**_Everyone was silent as they noticed the new circumstances.

 _ **  
“**_ She's just a kid! What kind of pedophiles did you involve, Demon Spawn?”

 _ **  
“**_ She'll be about thirteen at the most.”

 _ **  
**_ And for the second time today, he was speechless, his mouth may even be a little open with surprise, although if asked later he would firmly deny it.

 _ **  
**_ Without them noticing, a small kwamiid in one of the furniture to avoid being noticed, a remarkable achievement considering that there were two very good detectives in that place.

 _ **  
“**_ Dinner is ready,” Alfred announced as he entered the room, deciding to ignore the atmosphere altogether, “Do you want me to take the guest somewhere?"

 _ **  
“**_ I'm not hungry” announced Damian, and he left before anyone could avoid it.

  


* * *

_**  
  
**_Everyone agreed to go to the cave, even sending a message to a very offended Damian, to inform him of the steps to be taken regarding the new guest.

 _ **  
**_ Find out who the girl is.

 _ **  
“**_ Well, her description doesn't match anyone reported missing in the last six months in Gotham or nationally” was the first thing he heard when he arrived. It was Grayson's voice.

 _ **  
“**_ Neither is she listed in Zatanna's list of magic users,"added her father, who was staring at photos in some files.

 _ **  
“**_ The girl speaks French,” he said, letting them know about his presence. Noticing the questioning expression on their faces, he continued “before she passed out, she asked me something in French”.

 _ **  
**_ Drake realized that this was a kind of silent truce, so without asking any more questions he took the new information and continued searching on the computer, “nothing” he said after a few minutes. _ **  
  
**_The tension could be cut by a knife, everyone was aware of that and seemed determined to ignore it, creating an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere that was stressing the second of the brothers. He preferred action, boring research was not his thing at the moment.

 _ **  
“**_ What if for once we stopped all the drama and asked the girl her name?” Jason said, tired of the tension.

 _ **  
**_ Everyone looked at him.

 _ **  
“**_ You're finally using your head for something more than that ugly helmet,” congratulated Damian. _ **  
  
“**_Let's go,” said Bruce before his kids started fighting like he knew they were going to.

 _ **  
“**_ Sorry to interrupt you, Master Bruce, but don't you think it would scare our young guest if five men questioning her after one of them caused her an injury?” as always, Alfred being the voice of reason.

 _ **  
**_ Noting that the attention was on him, the older member of the family continued, “I would suggest that it be Master Richard along with Master Timothy and Master Damian. One nice one to reassure her, another to ask the right questions, and a familiar face to let her know she is still in the same place. Don't take this the wrong way, Master Bruce, but you and Master Jason could easily scare her off”.

 _ **  
“**_ Fine.”

 _**  
** _And so, the three chosen went off to look for answers, following Alfred's directions as to which room the young girl is in.

 _ **  
“**_ Fifty bucks says they make her scream.”

 _ **  
“**_ No.” _ **  
  
“**_You're getting _more_ bitter every year, B,” Jason sighed.

__

* * *

_**  
  
**_Marinette was confused, too confused.

 _ **  
**_ She remembered fighting Opportunité and then, for no apparent reason, she was dreaming of a boy with dark hair and green eyes, and she was on top of him. She felt embarrassed just remembering that scene. Treacherous mind.

  


Then she woke up in an unfamiliar room, a rather impersonal one at that, with cream-colored walls, consisting only of a large bed, the bedside table, a corner bureau and a large window where the usual evening tones could be seen. She was barefoot, but she saw her shoes at the side of the bed with her socks inside.

 _ **  
**_ Worrying. _ **  
  
**_Perhaps she would sleep a little longer and then wake up in her room. At the end she felt a little exhausted. _ **  
  
**_Only she woke up again and the only change she noticed was that it had gotten dark. She was still in the same room as before. Her hands quickly moved to her ears, andshe noticed, with relief, that she still had her earrings.

 _ **  
“**_ Tikki, where are you? _ **”**_ she muttered.

 _ **  
**_ The little goddess came out of hiding and watched her impatiently.

 _ **  
“**_ Marinette, I think I have some bad news. Plagg's presence is far away, that of all the Kwamis, really. _ **”  
**_

_**  
“**_ What? They've been taken? _ **”**_ she asked in a growing state of alarm.

 _ **  
“**_ We left. Remember the fight with Opportunité, how much he talked about giving opportunities? _ **”  
  
**_The images of the fight began to flow in her mind, the power of the Akuma, the hypnotized Chat Noir and... the shining ring that she crossed by mistake.

 _ **  
“**_ Oh no, _ **”**_ she said understandingly.

 _ **  
“**_ I'm afraid so, I don't know where we are, but I'm pretty sure it's not Paris. Opportunité sent us to where the magic thought your chance to change something was, but we don't know what will change. _ **”  
  
“**_Have you seen anything since we arrived? _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ Yeah, we're in a pretty big house. And our arrival caused a great commotion... You fell on a boy and his brothers arrived, it was in a great drama and you _don't want_ to know what they were saying, but you were still like Ladybug. You passed out and they brought you here. _ **”**_

 _ **  
**_ It wasn't a dream. She fell from a magic ring in an unfamiliar place, was over a boy and passed out. Worse, she did it while she was still transforming and was seen.

 _ **  
** How awfu_l, she thought in growing panic.

 _ **  
**_ For the chosen one of the goddess of good luck, she had _too much_ bad luck.

 _ **  
**_ She would have kept thinking how unlucky her fortune was turning out, but there was a knock at the door.

 _ **  
**_ She took a deep breath, summoning up all the courage she could while thinking of a story, and answered: _**“** Vouspouvezpasser **”**. **  
  
**_And there, she saw him, the last person to cross the door was the mysterious boy to whom she fell. _ **  
  
**_

* * *

_**  
  
**_A soft voice answered. So they opened the door and walked in slowly.

 _ **  
“**_ Bonnenuit, mademoiselle. Parlez-vousanglais? _ **”**_ asked Dick softly.

 _ **  
**_ The girl was surprised at the question, raising more doubts among the brothers.

 _ **  
**_ She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking around. She looked tiny in the room and noticed that she was rubbing her feet, perhaps missing her socks because of the cold. Shelifted her face and now everyone could see bright blue eyes.

 _ **  
“Oui…**_ je veux dire... yes. I... where am I? _ **”**_ she answered hesitantly.

 _ **  
“**_ Uh, well, I'm Dick, these are my brothers Tim and Damian. You are in our house, andwe would like to know who you are and how you got in, if it's not too much to ask _ **”**_ he smiled. _ **  
  
“**_My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I... There was an akuma and I mistakenly crossed one of his earrings.

 _ **  
“**_ HA! I told you so _ **”**_ jumped Damian, as the girl was confirming his story.

 _ **  
“**_ Well _ **”**_ Dick accepted looking at his brother with a slight apology _**“**_ what do you mean by akuma? That's the first time I've heard that term."

 _ **  
“**_ Excusez-moi? There have been akumas in Paris for almost three years. _ **”**_

 _ **  
**_ That set off all the alarms among the boys and Dick looked a little dizzy from the involvement. _ **  
  
**Paris. **  
  
“**_Excuse me, but my brother means it's very strange what you say. Becauseyou're not even in Europe. We're in Gotham, in the US _ **”**_ tried to explain Tim.

 _ **  
“**_ WHAT?! _ **”**_ she shouted.

  


_**  
  
“**_I told you they'd make her scream! _ **”**_

_**  
  
** _

* * *

_**Bonus:  
A few hours before, during dinner.** _

_**  
**_ The dinner was uncomfortably quiet, with the absence of the current Robin being quite noticeable among all the participants.

 _ **  
“**_ We overdid it, didn't we? _ **”**_ began Dick, scratching his neck slightly.

 _ **  
“**_ It seems so, it's been a long time since I've seen the Devil so angry about anything. _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ On second thought, he looked surprised and very upset by what we were saying, _ **”**_ added Tim.

 _ **  
“**_ I don't think the poor guy's even had his first kiss yet. _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ While we're on the subject, I have a question. _ **”**_

 _ **  
“**_ Who gave Damian The Talk?

 _ **  
**_ Bruce's eyes quickly opened, noticing that he had forgotten to do something important. _ **  
  
“**Shit. **”  
  
**_Unbeknownst to them, in the training room was the person they talked about so much, releasing their frustration. No one would mention the next day that thirteen practice dummies were missing.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see that disaster? Even I feel a little sorry for Damian and the "family fetishes". Lol
> 
> Marinette makes a brief appearance, but she's not being entirely honest.
> 
> Damian is socially awkward, so when he's directly "attacked" he shuts down. Even more so when he can't tell if his siblings are joking or not.  
> Bruce is a disaster as a father, but he does what he can.


	3. A great doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette notices the situation and decides to talk to the Waynes. Or, well, she gave it a try.
> 
> Bruce also knows he's one strike away from a family disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Thank you so much for all the feedback. I really feel very happy about the reception the story is having.  
> This chapter has been hard for me to finish, I edited it in five different ways and this was the most decent way.  
> I really hope you'll excuse the delay.
> 
> This chapter has some corrections by the "correcting angel" @Neakco
> 
> These are the details about the characters. I hope they help you to better understand the story (Name/Age/Height/Birthday)
> 
> Dick Grayson - 25 years old, 1.83 mt (6'0"). November 11th  
> Jason Todd- 22 years old. 1.86 mt (6'1"). August 16th  
> Tim Drake- 17 years old. 1.72 mt (5'8''). July 19  
> Damian Wayne- 15 years old. 1.70 mt (5'7''). August 9th  
> Marinette Dupain-Chang - 15 years old. 1.60 mt (5'3''). July 9  
> Bruce Wayne- 40 years old. 1.88 mt (6'2''). February 19th  
> Cassandra Cain- 19 years- 1.68 mt (5'6'').January 26.  
> Koriand'r- 26 years old. 1.90 mt (6'3"). December 14th.
> 
> UPDATE: I'm so sorry! I mistakenly posted the chapter in the wrong language, but I have already uploaded the correct one. A thousand apologies if you came across my mistake.

**_“_** _Excuse me, but my brother means it's very strange what you say. Because_ _you're not even in Europe. We're in Gotham, in the US_ ** _”_** _tried to explain Tim._

* * *

Bruce's week wasn't turning out as expected and it was barely Wednesday.

His family had constantly complained about his lack of excitement in celebrating his fortieth birthday, so they charged Tim with manipulating his meetings or possible engagements to make him as available as possible during the week, because they were determined to celebrate, and without the support of faithful Alfred, he had been left at the mercy of his sons.

They had decided that he would have the week off (his obligations as Batman remained), in general, they would do ridiculous bonding activities, in Damian's words, and then have a little party at the weekend.

Dick was only a 30-minute drive from Blüdhaven in case of an emergency, Damian agreed to participate without further reluctance, Jason was persuaded to stay at the mansion, Tim promised not to take much work home, and Cassandra had even been persuaded to participate by video call, as her activities as a watchman in Hong Kong could not be postponed due to the warning of a possible attack. Alfred nodded in agreement and it was already decided.

On Monday, it went relatively smoothly, they watched some movies, Jason threatened Tim, they played monopoly, Damian threatened Tim, they watched the sequel to the first movie, Dick defended Tim, and they watched more movies until Alfred had to interfere to avoid some fight in development involving swords, guns and sticks.

Something quite common.

Everything was going well until Bruce and Tim were abruptly taken out of the house for meetings that could not be postponed, apparently someone thought to take advantage of the time one of the chemical plant managers was on vacation to make a diversion of funds two months ago and had only been discovered that morning thanks to a random audit conducted as a demonstration to the group of interns in the accounting department. It wasn't really something that required both of them to be present, but the young co-CEO was determined to oversee the actions to be taken by the board, and having Bruce there would cause further pressure.

It had been several years since Bruce had delegated his duties to Lucius Fox and Tim, but sometimes he also liked to get involved more than the occasional visit to Wayne Enterprises because of relatively minor commitments, so he marched along with his third ward, and both of them, engrossed in the business, had not noticed the passing of time. By the time they realized it was almost 9 p.m., they had a rather frightening amount of messages and calls from other family members reminding them that there was a dinner planned for 7 p.m. 

Needless to say, they were late and the rest were not happy at all. 

Dick had already finished his cookies, Damian was staring at him with Alfred, the cat, in his arms, Tim quickly took off his coat and Cassandra was watching him without any expression from the screen in the living room.

Even Jason dared to draw with icing and some skittles unhappy faces on the cake and cupcakes brought by Alfred. His second protégé argued that he was not at all happy about having to wait for his business nerd work and that he should thank Alfred for not allowing those who were decorated in Dick's honour to be taken out of the kitchen. Bruce understood the reference and was certainly happy that these cupcakes were not present in the photos, even though Jason assured that they were his little works of art.

Everyone told him that his gifts would be arriving on Saturday, during the party, which Selina will also attend.

That was Strike One.

The next day he enters the room and finds his youngest son under a girl in a suit. The surprise may have betrayed him, because he even accused Damian of hiring prostitutes. I was sure Selina would laugh when she heard that story. 

Then he was reminded that he still had the awkward task of giving Damian The Talk. 

It was easier when they came with prior information. 

He really didn't want to think too much about what had happened. It would be another one of his failures as a father figure, which the kids said was a particularly long list.

That was Strike Two.

_Knock Knock._

The sudden noise took him out of his thoughts just in time, as Tim opened the door.

" She said some interesting things, we think you'd better hear them too, so we asked her to speak in the living room."

"Have you left her alone?"

"No, she asked to go to the bathroom and Damian has stayed in the hall to guide her."

"Let's go," he sighed.

* * *

“Oh no, how come I'm so far from home?” the girl kept muttering, looking down.

The kids were there to get the information the _right way_ , so they were being nice even though they had more questions than answers.

“That's a popular question apparently, more so because you came straight to our house,” answered Dick, avoiding mention of the disaster his arrival caused. He still felt guilty about the moment he put his brother through.

Marinette looked at Dick for a moment, the tallest of the three and notoriously the eldest, though he seemed jovial, as if he often avoided acting seriously. His hair was black and his eyes were a rather interesting blue.

“We would really like to know who you are, to help you or see what can be done. It's not often that girls come out of the nowhere, you know,” said a voice.

Marinette was aware that the boys weren't lying, they were curious about _her_ , not the magic jewels, the many classes of meditation with Tikki had given her a kind of sensor of intentions or emotions, in them she only perceived doubts and a little irritation, which was quite normal considering that she appeared out of nowhere.

They obviously knew nothing about the miraculous, if they had not taken them off while she slept, or at least looked at the earrings. She even kept her phone in one of her trouser pockets.

A part of her, that still believed in the positive side of things, wondered if she could trust them for information and some way to get home. She also wondered if the power of Opportunité designed this trip specifically for Chat Noir or for the one who crossed the hoop.

“How long have I been here?” she asked.

“You arrived around 5 p.m. Just in case, today is February 20, 2019” answered the second tallest one, this one also had dark hair and blue eyes, like Dick, but under his eyes there was a slight dark shadow, as if he was constantly sleepless.

That information was left out when she really analyzed what the boy had said, now Marinette looks scandalized.

She had left Paris without Ladybug, everyone was unprotected, at the mercy of Hawk Moth and there was no one to deliver the miraculous because she was not there. Her parents would also ask for her.

It didn't matter if even Chat Noir managed to catch the akuma, Ladybug was not there to purify it, fix the damage and return everything to normal.

A thousand ideas ran through Marinette's mind and none were encouraging. She did not have Kaalki, the transportation kwami, around to hurry home, and she had no one to ask for help. On the other hand, Bunnyx, the user of the rabbit's miraculous, who usually interferes with time travel when she sees something is wrong, had not made an appearance either.

“This is not good at all. Stupid akuma,” she sobbed.

Damian, tired of just being a spectator, finally spoke:

“Why all the trouble? What's this about Akuma?” His voice caused a slight tingling, similar to the sensation of the first touch of ice cream on your palate. Not entirely pleasant, but not definitely annoying either.

Marinette breathed softly, trying to find a calm that she didn't feel, wondering if it was a good idea to let go of everything she knew in front of a group of strangers. Tikki seemed to notice her hesitation, for she stepped out of her makeshift hiding place, right at foot level, where only she was looking because her eyes were low, and nodded to her with a slight smile. Perhaps she realized that there were not many options here as well.

“Almost three years ago Hawkmoth appeared, a villain with the ability to confer powers if you come into contact with an akuma. An akuma is a butterfly, _yes, I know it sounds silly, you don't have to say it_ ,” she added quickly to the incredulous gaze of her listeners, “For an akuma to take control of its victim it is necessary that the victim has no control over his emotions, thus leaving him vulnerable to manipulation,” she continued, even in a slightly weak voice.

“So you can simply be very happy or very sad and become a target for the bad guy?”

“No, it only works with strong negative emotions. Sadness, pain, loss, fear, anger, despair... those of that kind. He might send an akuma to a child because he had a nightmare or to someone angry about a test result”.

The brothers looked at each other quickly, in some kind of sign. They all questioned the girl's sanity.

“Oh-kay, let's say I believe you. And who is this Hawk Mouth? Where does he get his powers? Is he a meta?” Tim asked.

“What's a meta? No, _Hawk Moth_ , he gets his powers from the miraculous butterfly. Something like magic,” Marinette snorted. 

"No offense, but it sounds like a cheap movie plot."

"Yes, I suppose it does to anyone outside of Paris," she sighed.

The boys' faces just showed growing disbelief at the new information, proving her point.

"Well, if you want to feel a little better, here in Gotham we have villains dressed as clowns and a family of bats fighting them".

"Okay... that's unexpected. Wait, are you talking about Batman?"

"Yes" replied the third of the boys.

Great, she's fallen right into the capital of crime. 

"Would you mind repeating that to our father? Maybe... he can be a little more helpful," Damian reluctantly added. 

"Yes, because of the medium in which he mixes Bruce has had contact with some heroes"

That information appeased Marinette, and for the first time since she arrived she felt she was making the right decision

She stood up as the boys marched to the door, still had to put on her shoes and preferred to have a quick conversation with Tikki before meeting the others.

"We'll go ahead, Damian will be waiting for you in the hall to take you to the living room, is that ok?" quickly announced Dick, being the first one to leave.

"Yes, it will only take a few minutes," she replied as she bent down in order to reach her shoes.

Damian looked at her for a moment, and felt for the first time a tingling in his fingers. Looking at his hand and seeing nothing different he decided to go out and wait for the girl. 

Inside the room, Marinette was sitting and quickly getting ready while she checked what she had with her, her phone showed her the date she came from, but she didn't have a signal for obvious reasons, she hoped that they would be kind enough not to throw her out and then give her some access to the internet, she didn't have anyone to talk to, but looking for information would be useful. Her little bag was still there, holding her wallet with her regular and school ID, her savings account card, some euros that she would later count, a set of keys, and some battered macaroon. She sighed, the contents were not bad and hoped it would be useful.

"I haven't detected any bad intentions in them, Marinette, but I'm not sure if we should trust all the information," said Tikki.

She stood up and noticed that something was falling from her shoes, looked down and realized that they even still had dirt on them from the walk she took earlier in the park when it was lunchtime and avoided her classmates who insisted on blaming her for Lila's new (and fictitious) injury. It was strange, something so usual in her routine now seemed so far away.

"I know, Tikki. I'll have to leave some things out, but I don't know if there's really a way back. Magic brought me here for a reason and before I leave it would be good to find out," she said with a slight smile to the one she considered her closest friend.

"That's the attitude! You have to try to see the positive side."

She breathed out the air that was held in her lungs, then forced a slight smile, opened the door and walked out. Right in front of her was the last of the brothers, who watched her with an arched eyebrow at her performance. In front of the scrutiny she lost her courage and cowered.

"There's the bathroom" he pointed to his right "you should go" the words indicate a suggestion but in his tone it was an order.

She nodded and marched off to wash her face. 

Tikki, hiding, felt a sensation she thought she had forgotten and, stopping to think about the situation a little, smiled. She had a slight feeling as to why the magic had brought them so far. 

_Opportunity_ , the little goddess remembered.

She only hoped that Paris would not collapse in a Marinette's absence.

* * *

The walk, though short, was quite tense, the boy with the scowl watching her all the way as if he were examining her for something. She had a slight feeling that if he could bark he would be capable of putting a few police dogs out of work.

Finally, they arrived at a room without a door, where they were waiting for them.

"Nice to finally meet you, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I'm Bruce. Please have a seat," indicated a tall, rather friendly man as she was led into the same room where she appeared. She guessed he was the boys' father. Black hair and blue eyes seemed to be a requirement in that family.

_Maybe they won't throw me out on the street in pity for having similar features_ , she consoled herself.

"And I'm Jason," added a rather tall boy, with a white streak in front and abundant black hair, leaning against the back of the chair where his father was sitting. There was something strange about him, something like the aura of Chat Noir that made her uncomfortable. 

"Marinette is fine, my surname is quite long," he corrected softly as she sat down, Tikki was diligently hiding one of her pockets, they were not very comfortable, but she had designed them to be wider than usual.

Now that she was calmer she could see how exquisitely decorated the room was, everything seemed to have been carefully selected to look elegant, including the small armchair she sat in. She remembered that all the places she had seen of the house looked expensive but with a minimal touch that indicated homeliness, not exuberant like the Bourgeois hotel or insipid like the Agreste house.

The rest of the inhabitants had taken their seats around her, all in pairs, except the angry-faced boy, _Damian_ , she corrected herself, who also sat in an individual chair like her. Nicknaming him didn't seem to be a good way to go with him.

"My children have told me that you've said some interesting things that they want to communicate."

She nodded diligently and repeated the same story from earlier, avoiding some details again.

""And no one knows what this Hawk Moth wants?" was the question Mr. Bruce asked after hearing the story.

That took her by surprise, it was a question she didn't want to answer and that had been left out before.

"He is interested in the miraculous of the other wearers, it is said that you can make a wish without limit by uniting them" she did not specify which miraculous, she was not going to say everything immediately.

"Just like the one you are in possession of, right? Don't be surprised, but it's easy to make the connection with what you've told us and what we saw recently.

"Yes, I have one of the miraculous," she reluctantly admitted, though it was undeniable.

Without knowing it, she was creating a strong doubt in the minds of everyone present. 

"How come it's never in the news? It doesn't sound like a light thing."

"The mayor doesn't want to damage the tourist image of Paris, it would affect the economy quite a bit, he said, so he came to an agreement with the other members of the government, that limits international news quite a bit, although in our news it is normal. Besides, one of the Miraculous has the power to restore any damage to its original state, so the Eiffel Tower may be destroyed in the morning, but a few minutes later it would be intact to comply with pre-planning".

"I don't mean to offend you, but who thought it was a good idea to put kids in a magic fight? I can imagine that at your age you had no previous training."

Impossible not to be offended, being Ladybug has required too much effort and time in which she had trained.

"I've been at this for almost three years, I assure you we're competent. Hawk Moth has never beaten us.

"Yet. They still haven't stopped him and you're here," he added scathingly, the Batman attitude increasingly seeping into his tone, something his children noticed, but he had Marinette so confused by his sudden change.

"How old are you? You look pretty young," he asked, almost deferentially, Jason.

"I'm 15. I'll be 16 soon," she replied, lifting her chin slightly. She was not going to let them belittle her effort just because of her age.

Anyone else would find the scene funny, Batman arguing with a little girl with superpowers about how good she was at her job.

Dick decided to intervene, not wanting to test Marinette's limits yet.

"You said ‘we are’. How many more fight the Akumas?"

"There are... several wearers, not all at the same time and none with the same power, even some were only used once. Most are temporary, like me. The main ones are Chat Noir... and Rena Rouge, they take the Miraculous at the end of the battles" she lied.

She knew that in a quick internet search they would be among the first heroes to appear alongside Ladybug, she couldn't lie about her identity as they had seen their transformation, but she could about their role in the whole thing; Rena had not been called to the battles for a long time, but Alya refused to let her counterpart's fame fall, so she constantly published data or old images about the missing hero on her blog. Marinette hated lying, but she didn't know how much information her hosts would seek to corroborate her story.

Too bad she didn't know that she was lying to Batman himself, who was known to be the best detective, that he would look very hard. 

"Are they all children?" Jason questioned.

"I... I don't know, we're not allowed to know each other's identities, it's safer if we get compromised."

"Compromised?"

"Being victims of Hawk Moth. No one is immune to bad emotions, and we don't know how much pressure we can take" that was true.

That made them think a little.

"Well," they said. But that still doesn't explain how you got here."

"I'm not sure actually, Chat Noir and I were fighting an akuma, we didn't get to know what he was after, then he... was influenced by the proposal made by Opportunité" she slowly recalled the facts "Opportunité said that he would give him a great opportunity to change everything, he created the ring, we fought a little and by mistake I crossed it instead".

"In conclusion the hocus-pocus is saying that we are your great opportunity?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Or the cat boy's."

"I'm not sure. It could be, it's the first time this has happened, but I don't see how you could help me, you're a family on another continent, I see you as interesting, but not useful." That caused some snorting. "And none of you have magic, the only ones I feel different are Damian and Jason, but I wouldn't say it's because of their magic exactly" she replied.

That automatically triggered waves of distress among the family, which surprised her, apparently she had touched on a sensitive subject without knowing it.

Tim really wanted to keep his family from guiding his thoughts down that path, his siblings' stories were not easy and he wouldn't want to bring them into placement.

"You're not telling us something, I remember that when we mentioned the date you were alarmed".

"You told me that today is February 20, 2019... I was on the same day, but 2020" she mentioned with some fear.

"That doesn't make things any easier."

"No, it doesn't. I don't know if anyone will notice where I am or in what time" the emotions were already betraying her, her voice had been breaking for a while without her realizing "it is not usual for an Akuma with such a wide range, it must have been a powerful one but I underestimated it and now I have no way to go home" and finally she broke, her face transfigured into a strange looking grimace and her eyes were tearing up.

"Tt. You look awful, stop crying," snarled Grumpy Cat, he deserved the nickname.

That offended her. And she stopped the tears almost on the spot. Her pride was hurt and as bad as she felt, she wasn't going to show weakness now.

"Damian! Manners" reminded his older brother.

"Well," started Bruce, taking over, "for the moment we don't know how to help you, but we can't let you go either. It's Gotham, a not very safe place I'm afraid, and you're a girl, who even with powers we would not send you to the streets," he assured the girl, who sighed in relief "for the moment I propose something, stay with us until we find a solution.

That even seemed to surprise his children, who looked at him questioningly.

"Father!"

"Are you serious?" she questioned almost in a whisper. Not ending up on the street was a good first step for the moments.

"Yes," he assured her, "Get some rest. If the situation seems strange to me, I can't imagine what it must be like for you".

"Thank you, thank you very much really" she thanked him as some tears fought their way out.

That's when someone else came into the room. An older gentleman, but very elegant, wearing a classic suit with levite, shiny shoes and his slightly graying hair. Everything about him oozed distinction, she had the slightest feeling that even Chloe Bourgeois would recognize him.

"Gentlemen, it is almost midnight and our guest has not yet eaten dinner," he said with a raised eyebrow and the same seriousness in his tone that someone would use to communicate with a possible murderer. His British accent seemed to scare the men, as they quickly reacted. 

"Excuse us, Alfred. We've already left. I hope you can help Miss Marinette."

"So be it, sir. You have other things to do. I will see to it that our guest is made to feel at ease." Seeing that they finally left the room, he turned and looked at Marinette "I am Alfred Pennyworth, the family butler" and introduced himself gently "Please follow me. I've saved your dinner for you."

He took her to the kitchen, where he had already served her a dish with boiled vegetables, mashed potatoes and a fairly tasty stew. He looked at her critically when, after finishing and thanking her for the food, she got up to wash the used utensils, although he did not stop her. After that he took her back to the same room where she woke up and gave her a pair of men's pajamas.

"Miss Cassandra's clothes would be more suitable, but since her last visit she closed her room," he explained, "Don't worry, some of the young men don't use them anymore either, so they won't need them, take off that grimace, Miss Dupain-Cheng," he continued to note her expression.

"I don't like to cause trouble, Mr. Alfred. And please, just tell me Marinette" she requested.

Alfred looked at her for a moment, as if he had a big question mark over him.

"Fine, Miss Marinette, but you will stop calling me ' Mister'. It's been a long time since I've been called that in this house.

"Fair enough, Alfred," as he was about to retire, she spoke again. "I... could I use the kitchen tomorrow?"

The butler nodded, though internally he wondered why. Alfred took out a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him with a slight smile.

"The password to the Wi-Fi. I think you'll find it useful."

"Thank you, Alfred" she smiled at him and took the paper. As soon as the gentleman left, she found her phone and entered the password. 

She wanted to look for more information about the city, but she really needed a shower to relax a bit, so taking the borrowed pajamas, she marched to the bathroom in the corridor, next to Tikki who was hiding among the clothes. She only left her bag and phone in the room, she doubted that with so many things in that house they would be interested in her belongings, at the end, the most valuable things she always carried in her ears.

"Tikki, do you remember the family surname? I don't think they mentioned it."

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope that 4368 words is enough to apologize for the delay.
> 
> Really be very honest with your opinion on this chapter. This is basically a connection between the previous one and the next one. It was necessary but tedious.
> 
> I hope you're doing very well these days.


	4. A Great Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette understands that she no longer has to control herself because of Hawk Moth and the Wayne family begins to dig up the story of a girl who wears a costume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit it, I disappeared for a long time, but the real world claimed me (and it was terrible), but I'm back!  
> I'm surprised the story got over 200 kudos.  
> This chapter is not corrected, since 'Addylecrab', who helped me correct the first chapter, is really busy with her school work, but she gave it a quick read and assured me that it was not as terrible as the first ones.
> 
> So if you find any typing errors or anything that looks strange, let me know so I can correct it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it.

_...at the end, the most valuable things she always carried in her ears._

* * *

**February 21, 2019.**

There was a bathtub in the bathroom, but she decided on the shower. It was fortunate that there were personal cleaning products on the shelf, she didn't think much use was made of the floral and rose essence shampoo in the guest bath, but she definitely didn't complain. She took a long shower, as Tikki swam comfortably in the sink, not sure if the little goddess was doing it out of necessity or mere taste, she had never seen Tikki dirty, though she did not question it either.

Her wet hair was dripping water from under her shirt, and she felt a little uncomfortable wearing her borrowed pajamas without underwear, but she needed to wash those clothes to wear them later. She could probably get more cotton T-shirts, which, although somewhat large, fit her well, but she didn't think so about the underwear, as it was unhygienic and unlikely in a house where she had seen only men live. Remembering the situation with the flannel trousers was a bit funny for her, they were quite long and originally crawled, so she needed to bend them to be able to walk without slipping, as well as pulling the straps as much as possible to avoid slipping from her hip, although she also fell a little every few steps. 

It was nice that something as mundane as a bath gave her so much relaxation, to forget her problems for a moment and release the weight on her shoulders. However, she was conscious that it would be a fleeting sensation, so she took a deep breath, opened the door to the desert corridor and walked back to the room where she was allowed to stay. Soon she would have to go out and buy some things, including some good slippers, because walking barefoot in February was not a very smart idea, her feet were frozen, and she was counting the steps to put her soft socks back on.

She entered the bedroom and observed with a certain nostalgia how impersonal it was decorated, she would sound a little spoiled, but she would miss the comfort that her room in Paris provided, the one that she decorated so carefully and that every detail had a great meaning. The pink walls, which although somewhat childish, gave her a sense of peace, her design items, selected with great care every time she went to the store no matter what size or use, even her cork board, one that was once full of photos of those she considered her friends and now limited to photos of her family, Luka, Kagami and multiple ideas for her next creations.

She looked at her current surroundings again and noticed that her bag was no longer on the bed, but on the bedside table. 

Surely Tikki had moved it when she removed the macaroon remains, she thought.

"What do you think, Marinette?"

"We could be worse off. But now I'm seeing something positive," reported the girl, who, seeing the doubt on her friend's little face, continued, "We've come right to the city where Batman, who is often called _the greatest detective_ , is to be found, even among so many heroes in the justice league. If this is really _my_ opportunity, maybe magic has brought me here to get help to finish off Hawk Moth" the hope was evident in her tone of voice.

Tikki looked at her with some guilt and thought, with some fury, of her former guardian. Wang Fu handed over the responsibility of saving an entire city to a _thirteen-year-old_ girl and for almost half a year he left Marinette on her own. Yes, Marinette is the _chosen one_ of the miraculous of creation, thanks to that she had relative good luck and Tikki was happy with her, but it doesn't eliminate the fact that she was a vulnerable child in front of an unscrupulous villain.

The little goddess also remembered the feeling she had earlier and decided to keep quiet, she was not one hundred percent sure of the meaning as much as she would like it to be real, so it was better to keep quiet for the time being and not ruin Marinette's good spirits.

"The more I think about it, the more I believe it's possible, Tikki. Maybe magic brought me to this family because it knew I wouldn't be thrown out on the streets and I could talk to Batman about Paris. Can you imagine, Tikki? No more need to be afraid _to feel_ , I could even be sad and solve it with an ice cream instead of worrying about an akuma! I could yell at Lila and Alya all I think about without feeling guilty at the thought of them becoming akumas. I-"her voice was already cracking and sobbing at the thought of the odds of being free.

_In, out, in, out._

"Marinette, what do you think about going on patrol?" Tikki suggested as she looked at the state of her chosen one.

"Yes," she moaned, "that's a good idea. If we're lucky, we'll probably run into Batman. Tikki, _spots on_."

* * *

**[February 21, 2019. 2:30 a.m.]**

The patrol had ended about half an hour ago. It was a relatively simple one compared to others, there were only three robberies in the streets near Crime Alley and what took them longer was to stop a confrontation between some gangs fighting for territory.

The day-to-day life in Gotham.

The atmosphere was light, because, even if they didn't recognize it, they were happy to be together again. Using Bruce's birthday as an unavoidable commitment was a good excuse to meet and not look sentimental. 

Sentimentality was Dick's job, and they preferred to leave it at that.

"Well, she was lying," Tim said after a few minutes, sitting in front of the computer in the Batcave.

In front of Tim was the picture that Damian took of Marinette's ID as soon as she went to take a bath, there was also a picture of a debit card. The youngest Wayne didn't understand how someone could lower his defenses so much in front of strangers, but well, it was a benefit to him, he only needed to go into the empty guest room and open a small wallet to find what he was looking for, the girl didn't have much with her.

"What do you mean? According to Lil D, the identification is real," said Dick.

Damian thoroughly checked the document and ruled that it was either real or a top-notch fake, which he doubted, he's usually suspicious, but the girl in question didn't look like she could kill a mosquito, no matter how much heroin she wore, so he took the necessary photographs. The information on the ID was the same as the girl had said. 

"Most of it is correct. Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and she was born on July 9th. Daughter of a Chinese immigrant named Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain, a French-Italian, the address on her ID matches Dupain-Cheng Bakery, so it's not really necessary to say it's the family business. There's nothing shady about the family. The mother has had little contact with her family since she arrived in France and the only thing remarkable about the father's side is that the grandmother travels a lot, otherwise they are bakers," Tim reported with some excitement.

"That looks very normal," said Jason.

"It is, until you look a little more. Thanks to the debit card photo I decided to also look into the family finances, the parents' account has a normal income and expense ratio for the bakery, and they have almost 20,000 euros in savings. _Don't stop me_ , here comes the interesting part," he added when he saw Damian's intentions "Marinette has a savings account that she opened with the help of Gina Dupain, her grandmother. This account has never had any interaction with her parents' account, not even a small deposit or transfer. What's interesting is that one girl's account has almost $54 000"

"What the hell is a 15-year-old doing with almost $60 000?" Dick asked, after a quick money conversion, completely stumped by the amount.

"14-year-olds, actually" reported Tim "don't forget about the time travel issue, these are the finances of a one year younger version. I still don't have all the transaction information, the banks are _trying_ a new security system and it will take me another hour to have everything, so that information is for later.That's not all, as soon as I searched the media and internet for information about Hawk Moth nothing came up, _don't interrupt me!_ " he pointed out to Jason "But I remembered what Marinette mentioned the government blockade, so I just activated a VPN to pretend my IP was from Paris, and they changed the search results. Check it out."

On the screen, Tim proceeded to show his point, doing first a regular search, without any results, and then one with the other IP address, where almost two million results appeared. Multiple news items were displayed, and he quickly activated the English translation option. At Bruce's request, all the kids had language classes, so they had some ability to speak and read French, but it was early in the morning and none of them were really in the mood to mess around when it wasn't really necessary. 

  
_  
_

> _Hawk Moth has once again summoned Mr. Pigeon. It's the fifth time this year._

> _Eiffel Tower falls under Bombardier's attack. Citizens take refuge as the situation normalizes._

> _The Council of State plans to submit a bill to parliament seeking new preventive measures._

> _The maternity ward of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris is attacked by Akuma. 150 people die during six hours._
> 
> _Recent studies show an increase in cases of depression in France._

> _Ladybug and Chat Noir save the day!_

> _Video of the Syren attack is leaked. Did 90% of the population in Paris really die?_

> _Ladybug addresses the citizens and asks to remain calm._

"This is serious? How did all this happen without anyone in the league knowing?"

"And it's not the worst. Watch the videos" and clicked on a site called _Ladyblog_.

It was an unlikely scene, a pale skinned girl in a dress presenting herself as Stormy Weather was throwing lightning bolts with an _umbrella_ . The video showed her freezing cars and causing a disaster in her wake. Another showed a kind of giant _gorilla_ chasing a model. There were many examples of rather _peculiar villains._

Other videos showed a boy dressed as a cat, with a suit that Selina would be proud of, destroying with a dark light halo in his hand multiple things in various battles, including a fucking bus and reducing it to ashes! 

It was a series of compilations made by various people. So there were _a lot_ of battles to be seen.

The last one was the one that hit them the most, it showed Marinette, in her heroine suit, falling from the top of a building and being hit after falling by some kind of giant purple monster. She was seen being chased, beaten and thrown from multiple angles due to the various videos posted. She would get up with a limp every few minutes and then continue to fight with a yo-yo as a weapon, and even invoke something as strange as a red blanket with black dots. In the end, after a fight, which they were sure was physically impossible, the girl managed to win, catching a butterfly in her childish weapon, while shouting some phrase that was lost in the audio, thousands of ladybugs appeared and returned everything to its previous state. 

She was no longer hurt and was even smiling. In the place of the monster there was a repentant young man who spoke to Ladybug explaining the reasons why he was possessed. She comforted him after being brutally beaten and smiled at him as if nothing had happened. She is only a 14-year-old girl.

In the whole battle there was no trace of Chat Noir and the date indicated that it happened a week ago.

Thanks to the comments they learned that on the same day of that battle there were six more Akumas, which is why the girl was at the limit of her energy. 

Everyone was silent, faced with a completely different reality.

"For almost four months there has been no Rena Rouge presence, and even that heroine only appeared less than a dozen times," continued Tim, with a trembling voice "She lied, she is not a temporary holder. She has been with the cat since the beginning, she is considered the leader of the team and, according to this, she has been fighting alone for a month".

* * *

Ladybug jumped up and ran with a lightness she hadn't felt in a long time. She was not really very far from the house, which seen from the outside deserved the title of mansion with all its strength, it seemed that she had fallen into a really wealthy family. 

She did not see Batman or any of his companions, but it did not discourage her.

She traveled as far as she could, avoiding getting lost, Gotham was a large city, full of noise and buildings. It wasn't Paris, with its many fountains and corners that screamed art at every turn. Gotham was a beautiful city, although with a heavy atmosphere, but seeing it from the top of the roof of that building gave her the reality that was missing from her situation.

She wasn't in Paris. And she knew she had to find a way back, but she wanted to be selfish.

She cried for all the time she held back, she cried for all those times she fell silent, she cried for all the damage she had suffered.

The betrayals by her friends, the pressure of being a hero, the distance the relationship with her parents was taking, how _lonely_ she felt... 

For the first time in almost three years she allowed herself to cry without fear of Hawk Moth and it was liberating. She was able to remove the terrible lock she put on her feelings and let them go. All the fear and anguish that was silenced by the possibility of being akumatized

Her first step to freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter is somewhat short and has zero interaction between our kids, but it is necessary to give a foundation for what is to come. You need to remember that Marinette is still a young person in this story, so I'm trying to give her a realistic feel. 
> 
> I have three more chapters ready, so this time I won't disappear


	5. The great cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug starts looking for Batman with no results.  
> Tim knows more than he's saying and Damian gets a new company to get out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My life is still a mess, anyway.  
> It's a short chapter, I don't want to make it too long to overwhelm you, but I really feel like it is getting tiny! Tell me if you prefer long chapters or if you prefer these short but bearable ones.  
> In case you find any mistakes, let me know so I can correct them!
> 
> Thank you very much for the comments in the previous chapter!

_ She was able to remove the terrible lock she put on her feelings and let them go. All the fear and anguish that was silenced by the possibility of being akumatized _

_ Her first step to freedom. _

* * *

Ladybug was running and jumping off the roofs until it was almost 3:20 a.m. 

She didn't really feel tired and only retraced her steps when she noticed the passing of time. There was no longer a sound in the streets and she decided it was very unlikely she would meet Batman that night.

She returned to the grounds of the mansion as quietly as she could, jumped up and with the help of her yo-yo came in through the same window she had come out. Everything looked intact and there was no sound in the corridors. 

_ No one noticed her absence _ , she thought and smiled once more. She dropped her transformation and finally lay down on the bed, where sleep caught up with her after setting some alarms on her phone. 

Tikki rummaged through her purse for a few crumbs to replenish her energy and although she didn't find much, she didn't dare tell Marinette. She knew that her chosen one had asked to use the kitchen, so all that was left was to resign herself to waiting. 

It was not the first time that a Kwami had endured a little hunger and Marinette had always been kind to her, giving her excessive care and always trying to get her favourite sweets, so she did not think it necessary to mention a little oversight, at the end they were not prepared for such a journey.

Not far away a young man blinked slightly as he noticed the notice emerging on the computer screen and took another sip of his third coffee. 

He knew he shouldn't have left out (or concealed the evidence) that the girl had left the mansion, but he had a slight hunch and followed him. It was not usual for him to get carried away with such things, but after seeing and putting together a more complete file on Marinette he did not regret it.

The information about the girl was not conclusive, but if many of the things he read continued to happen for another year, it would not be at all encouraging.

Now he had to find a way to tell Bruce and the other guys.

He needed to get more information about the heroes of Paris and his main source of information was civilian videos and a gossip blog. 

Yeah, he also needed  _ more  _ coffee.

* * *

Marinette wasn't a morning person, or anything like that. It took eleven alarms and three hair-pullings from Tikki to get her to wake up.

It was 5:13 am, and although she only slept for nearly two hours, she actually felt quite rested.

She knew that although she had asked Alfred to use the kitchen, she did not specify the time and hoped that the butler would not be angry at her invasion of the kitchen at such an early hour, but Tikki needed cookies and it was easier to make a batch and disappear a few than to take them straight from the cupboard and cause discomfort. Also, she didn't know what time they usually eat breakfast, and her hosts might like to eat some cookies.

Marinette quickly got dressed and put on her slippers. Tikki hid in one of her pockets, not wanting to carry her bag to a place where it was likely to end up full of flour. 

She took a few steps and regretted that her underwear had not yet dried, she had hung it on a chair near the window in hopes of helping the process, but it was a very cold night, so it was no use. She really needed to go shopping.

The girl remembered the turns and doors she needed to take to get to her destination. Everything was dark in her path, the dawn was still close but not enough to create natural light in winter, and she was unaware of the habits of others, so she walked in the dark, ignoring the fear it caused her, and finally when she reached the kitchen she turned on the light. She really had the feeling that something was following her in the last corridor.

She checked the drawers for the necessary ingredients and instruments, there were even chocolate chips, and when she got everything, she started working. It was a bit disappointing not to find any coffee, but a lot of different kinds of tea.

Marinette has always considered making desserts to be cathartic and could do so almost on automatic pilot. Adding, weighing, sifting, whipping, and blending was a staple in her family and she was proud of that knowledge.

She was completely focused on her work and before it happened she had the dough ready, and the oven preheated, she only needed the trays to put what would be the cookies, but she couldn't find them. Marinette was completely immersed in her search in the bottom drawers when someone else entered the kitchen.

"Hello?" questioned Tim's voice, blinking and rubbing his eyes at the image of a nearly whole body inside the pot drawer. After the third blink he understood that these were not hallucinations from excessive caffeine and lack of a few hours sleep.

The sudden sound made her jump due to the surprise and hit the top of her skull with the edge of the drawer "Ouch!" she screamed and quickly left the drawer to start massaging the injured area with both hands.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think I'd find anyone awake. Did you get hit a lot?" asked Tim, sincerely worried about the girl. Between the two of them was the kitchen counter, where the boy leaned over to watch Marinette.

She stood up, reducing to one hand the person in charge of rubbing the affected area, and with the other hand she leaned on the counter.

"No, no, easy, it's my fault, I intentionally came early so as not to interfere with the routine of the rest.  _ Mon Dieu, tu ressembles à un raton laveur! _ " she howled when she saw Tim's face. His eyes were squinting and underneath them were dark segments, much more noticeable and alarming than they were just a few hours ago, a dishevelled look should also be added, his hair pointing in different directions, as if he had pulled it. Her clothing was based on a pair of pyjamas very similar to the one she had borrowed, along with slippers that she would have envied a few hours ago. 

He was a mess.

"Raccoon? Well, I've been told worse things at better times and with a better face," argued the young man. "By the way, is there any coffee?"

"Does everyone in this house speak French?" she questioned with some embarrassment about being discovered, certainly not good to make comments comparing people to animals, let alone being discovered "I tried to make coffee when I arrived, but I couldn't find a single gram," she confessed.

Tim seemed to sense that and no longer questioned the reasons for being in the kitchen so early or admonished her for rummaging through drawers, instead nodding and muttering something that sounded very much like "inhuman Alfred" and "caffeine goddess".

"Bruce thinks that learning languages is important, so he can hardly make us study as many as we can. They are useful, so there are no complaints," he muttered, without further discussion of what skills were considered useful or what uses were made of them in the life of a watchman.

Before she could question the reason for such a murmur, he bent down in front of the dishwasher, opened the drawer beneath it, and rummaged through the cleaning products there until he found a box of toilet tablets which he shook.

" _ Bingo _ ," he exclaimed, and as if it were the most usual thing in the world, he opened the package and took out a small bag of ground coffee which he showed him. 

"Who keeps coffee with the cleaning products?"

"Someone desperate for caffeine. Alfred can be a tyrant when he sets his mind to it," he replied, as he turned on the coffee machine, put the coffee back in the stash and sat down on one of the chairs around the table to wait for the longed-for drink. "What were you looking for?"

"A cookie tray," she replied, pointing to the dough in front of him, which he had completely ignored. 

"Oh, you were looking in the wrong drawer. Those are in that drawer next to most of the pastries," he pointed with his index finger on the opposite side. He, though not a cook, knew the location of many things in the kitchen because of his habit of hiding coffee in various places to prevent it from being confiscated.

She was quite perplexed by what had happened, but she didn't ask any more questions and went on to finish the cookies after finding two fairly large trays. Meanwhile, Tim only got up from his chair when his coffee was ready and then he slipped back onto the counter surface and dozed off slightly even while he had the cup in his hand.

"How long has it been since you've slept?"

"I sleep enough to stay awake," he assured her as he lifted the cup and took another sip.

Weird, but not the weirdest thing in the last 24 hours.

They remained silent as she finished her work and he woke up every few minutes to take a few sips of his coffee. The dawn was slowly approaching, but they didn't speak again until finally the timer she found in the pastry drawer went off. She began to feel a little sleepy because of the silent atmosphere and the lack of a good rest, but she still got up from her chair and took the coveted cookies out of the oven with the help of a pair of gloves.

"They smell good," Tim congratulated her, "you're lucky that Dick isn't awake yet, he's obsessed with cookies.

"Thanks, my dad taught me how to make them, it was the first recipe that came out in an edible way" she smiled, as she remembered with longing those moments when her father only saw him with love, soon a tingle began to form in her eyes, she blinked and sent the memories back to their hiding place. "Wait for them to cool down a bit so you can take them with your coffee. They taste better that way."

Tim was curious by nature and loved to know, but even the girl didn't know him enough to give out personal information, so she refrained from asking, not that she had the chance, because a few seconds later Alfred entered the kitchen, dressed in his impeccable uniform at just 6 a.m. 

"Miss Marinette, Master Tim, good morning," he greeted as he glanced sideways at the clock, "I particularly didn't expect to see anyone in the kitchen drinking coffee," and stared at Tim, who shrank a little from his gaze. "And those cookies smell good," he added, looking this time at Marinette with a slight smile.

"Thank you, Alfred. I hope everyone likes them," she was actually relieved that no questions were asked about her early morning presence in the kitchen. 

The elegant butler looked for some ingredients and before she could offer, he asked her to sit down while he prepared breakfast. Also, in Tim's carelessness for dozing off, he took the coffee cup and poured its contents into the sink, then returned the cup to the counter.

She wondered if the family was usually so trusting of their guests. She needed to ask one of them for a favor and hoped they would continue to be so considerate. 

* * *

**[At the same time]**

He was already awake and was getting ready to follow his routine of few hours of sleep and a rather tedious schedule with his school uniform. Damian didn't really need to go to high school, he was considered some kind of wunderkind, which made a lot of sense considering the fact that his mother had taken excessive care when she was focused on rescuing the family's best genes to create him. He had had tutors forever, so he was really way ahead of his classmates, even though after many complaints, his father allowed him to be only two years ahead, he was still way ahead of the rest, but it was finally his last year at Gotham Academy.

His father excused himself by saying that he didn't want to see him fall like Drake into a constant whirlpool of knowledge-seeking and isolation from his surroundings. It's not as if those precautions really helped, his classmates were inferior to him, so he wasted no time talking to them, even the girls who were more insistent ended up giving up after a while. Grayson always tells her how lonely it will be if she keeps this up, but she still doesn't see the benefit of being surrounded by people just for the fun of it.

The family really needed to stop dwelling on unnecessary sentimentality and continue in a pragmatic way. He did not deny that he had some affection even for the adopted sibling tribe, but he did not consider it so essential as to interfere with their development. His time could be spent on better things, such as training or even participating in Wayne Enterprises or some of its many subsidiaries. He didn't plan to do this in the long run, but he preferred the monotonous paperwork to the incessant teenage nonsense.

The disadvantages of being a minor in the public eye, no matter how much of a billionaire's son or grandson of the devil himself was, would not let him stray beyond where his father's satellites tracked him (which was a very large area, by the way). Batman allows him to accompany him at night as a vigilante by following certain rules, although ironically he was an overprotective father the rest of the time. There was no point in arguing with a person who had the heat signatures of members of his social circle recorded on a computer, but it was exhausting at times to know that you were always being watched.

He was honestly surprised that he would let a complete stranger stay in the house, no matter how magical a time traveler she turned out to be, but it was probably one of his occasions where they should show the Wayne family as a philanthropic pillar. 

Although he felt somewhat frustrated, knowing that something so big was happening and they were not even aware of it made him feel somewhat irritated, but he still couldn't get any more information. He was just hoping they wouldn't have to nanny him, too. The girl fell on him, yes, that's true, but that's as far as her role in that story went.

With that resolution in mind, he walked into the kitchen in search of his breakfast, Pennyworth was one of the few faces he could tolerate seeing so early, and the fact that he always got a good meal was a benefit he didn't plan to give up as long as it was possible. He didn't expect to see Drake one step away from crying over "a drink of the fallen gods," nor the butler smiling sideways and the magic girl keeping cookies in her little purse. 

"Good morning, Master Damian" greeted the butler, who decided to ignore the drama of the coffee addict. 

In front of Damian, he was served a plate of oatmeal and fruit porridge along with a glass of juice just like the rest. He nodded in appreciation and sat down in front of the counter full of cookies. He had not eaten three bites when his father and the two other missing members entered the kitchen and less than 15 seconds when he saw the oldest boy jumping on the cookies.

"You're the best, Alfred" he spoke quickly as he put three cookies in his mouth at once "These cookies are so good"

"I'm glad to know that, but I didn't make them. Miss Marinette woke up early and made them for us," he pointed to the pile of chocolate chip cookies as the girl blushed from the sudden attention. 

"I didn't expect someone so young to be good in the kitchen, Marinette," her father praised with a smile that suggested that less than a dozen years ago he had been investigated right down to the bank account.

All the members of the family remembered that fact and were grateful that they had been immersed in a sea of intrigue for a long time, because otherwise their faces would have reflected their true emotions. They were detectives, knowing things was part of their job and how they found out was one of their favorite activities, but they certainly felt a bit harassed considering that it was about an underage girl who lived with them because of unfortunate circumstances. 

"Yes, it's a big surprise," added Todd in a sigh before Drake, in a rather inconspicuous way, elbowed him.

"What they  _ mean  _ is that most of us didn't know how to do it until we left home, I was dependent on Alfred even for snacks, and when I left here I continued to live on instant food for a while," Grayson said with one of his typical smiles.

"Oh, no. I'm actually better at sweets or desserts than I am at the food itself. My parents have a bakery, so they were happy to teach me."

So the conversation continued for a short time, the butler listening for little secrets of some basic recipes, Dick eating cookies as if he was made for it, Jason stealing from Bruce's plate and Tim dozing off on the counter. Damian, on the other hand, was still eating and was completely disconnected from the conversation only hearing important facts when his name was mentioned.

"What?"

"That Marinette needs to go and buy some things and you are the only one available to show her the city" answered Dick.

"That's right, I need Alfred to do me a favor, your older brothers work and Tim needs to sleep, which leaves you after going to your classes," argued his father. 

Bruce's smile indicated that even if everyone was free, Damian would still be in charge of such an assignment, so there was no point in arguing.

He hated his father's marketing side.

"Tt" and he frowned. There was no point in opposing him, so he nodded, accepting the task.

"Thank you," whispered Marinette in the boy's direction.

Looking at it another way, he could find out more about the mysterious girl because of the need to buy things. And it was true, the girl didn't have much when he checked her purse.

Yeah, it sounded kind of weird that way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for coming here!  
> This is my first story, so the comments would help me a lot to know how much you like the story, no matter if it is a criticism or even a correction, but it would help me a lot to improve too.  
> I feel that it has been a somewhat long chapter, but it was necessary to show the main idea and see if it is liked.  
> 


End file.
